Novelist, lawyer, sleuth ... just a day's work for Shelby County's Steven Gregory

Shelby County author and lawyer Steven Gregory is hard at work on his sequel to his debut hardboiled novel, "Cold Winter Rain," that came out last summer. (Courtesy / Steven Gregory)

SHELBY COUNTY,
Alabama -- Steven Gregory was a bit shocked when he learned Publishers
Weekly, known by many as "the bible of the book business," had reviewed his
debut hardboiled detective novel, "Cold Winter Rain."

Reading the positive review that came out Jan. 27 raised
the Shelby County author's brow even further.

"I was actually a little bit surprised they chose to review
it at all because they select only a few independently published books to review
in their Publishers Weekly Select section. I was even more pleasantly surprised
to see how much the reviewer liked the book," the 60-year-old Mt. Laurel
resident said with a smile.

Here's what the
reviewer said about Gregory's noir novel set in Birmingham and other
locales, and the story's main character, Slate: "Clean and sharp prose delivers
maximum emotional effect, and the dialogue rings true. Though he doesn't bring
anything particularly new to the genre, Slate is nevertheless destined to
become a series character welcomed by aficionados of John D. MacDonald and
Raymond Chandler."

It's a pat on the back for Gregory who spent about a
decade writing the first 70 pages of his novel, which he released last summer using online retailer Amazon's CreateSpace
publishing wing.

While continuing to stir interest in his novel, the attorney
who grew up in DeKalb County in northeast Alabama and holds a law
degree and master's in creative writing from the University of Alabama is hard
at work on the follow-up.

"The plot of 'Cold Winter Rain' might seem a little unresolved
to some readers. They will find there is a resolution in the next book called 'Spring
Thaw,'" he said.

The sequel that should be out by late summer will have the
same protagonist as well as a few minor characters returning in addition to
some new ones. "I've read the first chapter of that book to a few audiences,
and I probably will be putting it on my website in the near future with the
caveat there may be a spoiler or two for people who haven't read the first
book," Gregory said.

For those who haven't tackled the first novel yet, here's
the summary on Amazon:
"Slate, a recovering lawyer who lost his family to an accident, lives on a
sailboat, owns a beach bar, and occasionally helps clients recover things they
have lost. Children, for example.

"Kris Kramer, the nineteen-year-old daughter of a
Birmingham lawyer, Don Kramer, has been missing for two days when her father
visits Slate in his beach bar, which isn't very busy on a raw day in January.
Kramer engages Slate to try to find Kris. But two days after Slate arrives in
Birmingham, Leon Grubbs, captain of the Homicide Division of the Birmingham
Police Department, calls Slate just after midnight.

"A murder victim lies across the railroad tracks in
the no-man's-land between North and South Birmingham, Slate's business card in
the pocket of his business suit."

Readers, especially those in Alabama, may relate to some
of the novel's prominent locations: Birmingham,
Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and even New Orleans. Fans may also gravitate toward
the novel's protagonist, who, like Gregory, is a private pilot and attorney.

"I think this character is sort of the antihero
hardboiled detective," Gregory said. "He's perhaps more truthful to his
emotions than some of the hardboiled detective characters that you find in
Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett. I think this character sort of gets even
more contemporary or more in touch with his feelings than Robert Parker's character
who is named Spenser -- who also has only one name like my character, Slate."

Gregory recently discovered his old notes from the 1980s about
the character that became Slate. "I was reading this genre quite a bit during
that period of time. I had just finished my master of fine arts at University
of Alabama. I had always enjoyed detective fiction mysteries. I decided I
wanted to write something like that. I was also considering going to law
school."

Gregory wrote the first 70 pages of the novel from the late
1990s through around 2010. "At that point with the first novel, it took only
about six months to finish it," he said.

His wife, Jan, a retired English teacher, edited the
novel. "The first novel required lots of editing because of the fact I spent so
long writing it," Gregory said. Their son, Sam, who's an art major at
Birmingham-Southern College, designed the book's cover art.

The second novel has been a much more concise writing
process for Gregory. "At the moment I am more full-time writer than full-time
lawyer, but as I integrate the writing more into my life and make it more part
of my daily routine, which it has been now for a year or so, I realize I can do
both and I can spend more time on the law practice and devote more or less half
my day to each," he said.

Readers can purchase "Cold Winter Rain" at The
Little Professor Book Center in Homewood, PharmSouth pharmacy in Mt Laurel and
on Amazon.com in digital and paper formats. For more information, visit his
website at www.stevenpgregory.com
or his Facebook
page.